Shakira Khan, the Love Island 2025 finalist who became one of the series’ most talked-about personalities, has publicly hit back at online trolls after fans criticised her for spending time with former co-stars. The star shared a light-hearted Instagram Reel of herself walking through London with fellow Islanders Alima Gagigo, Lauren Wood and Megan Forte Clarke — a clip that quickly attracted hostile comments, particularly aimed at Lauren.
What happened
The short video showed Shakira and several ex-Islanders enjoying an outing in the capital; within hours the comments were flooded with abuse from parts of the Love Island fanbase. Many users accused Shakira of being disloyal to her close villa friends — Toni Laites and Yas Pettet — for socialising with Islanders she’d clashed with on screen. Others levelled their anger at Lauren because of her past romantic links to Harrison Solomon, who had entangled storylines with members of Shakira’s inner circle while in the villa.
Shakira responded to the backlash on her Instagram Stories, calling out the vitriol and urging fans to be kinder. In a message shared on her stories she warned trolls she wouldn’t tolerate meanness and referenced mental-health and basic decency, telling followers to “be nice n kind.” Social media users rallied behind her, with several calling the abuse “unnecessary” and defending Shakira’s right to choose who she sees.
Context: friendships, edits and the fallout
The incident is the latest chapter in a wider narrative about how Love Island friendships and feuds are presented to viewers. Outside the villa Shakira has previously spoken about the relationships she formed on the show, insisting that some bonds were genuine and that edit choices sometimes masked those connections. She has said certain friendships — particularly with Toni and Yas — were deeper than viewers saw on screen.
That background helps explain why fans were surprised to see Shakira socialising with Islanders who were presented as part of a separate group on the programme; reality TV editing often sharpens divisions for drama, and fans can react strongly to perceived disloyalty. Several outlets have tracked the continued tensions between former cast members since the series ended, and the online reaction to Shakira’s reel underlines how closely viewers police post-show behaviour.
Editorial insight: parasocial lines and celebrity accountability
The backlash illustrates two common realities of modern reality-TV fandom. First, parasocial expectations — the sense that viewers “own” contestants’ loyalties — often produce disproportionate anger when stars behave like normal people (i.e., seeing whoever they want). Second, the speed and nastiness of social media can turn a benign outing into a public relations problem overnight. For stars who have only recently left an intense, edited environment, the consequences can be exhausting; publicly addressing abuse becomes both a defence and a necessary mental-health boundary.
What this means for fans and the cast
Shakira’s firm reply — calling out nastiness and urging kindness — is likely to calm some of the criticism but won’t change entrenched divisions among parts of the fanbase. For the cast, the episode is a reminder that life after the villa is unavoidably public and that friendships, edited or otherwise, will be scrutinised. Expect more public statements or carefully chosen appearances from Islanders as they navigate those expectations and protect their mental well-being. The Sun+1
Conclusion:
Shakira’s response to the trolling is a clear stand: she will not apologise for normal socialising, and she’s asking for basic decency from viewers. The spat highlights the wider issue of how reality-TV stars are treated online once they leave the controlled world of the villa. For fans, it’s a moment to decide whether loyalty to on-screen narratives should override simple human courtesy — and for Shakira, it’s another step towards shaping her post-Love Island public life on her own terms.
